


Lemony and Mint

by BlueRoboKitty



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Also hello there rarepair alert, Cute Kids, F/M, First Crush, Fluff, I have another tween AU in the works atm, I might expand on this idk, James is a bit of a brat, Just something adorable I wrote, Nadia has a potty mouth, There is one-sided Grizavi too, This is just a taste of things, Tween AU, keidia is a shithot ship don’t @ me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 16:36:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18347537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueRoboKitty/pseuds/BlueRoboKitty
Summary: 13-year-old Keith has never had a crush before.Until Nadia Rizavi transfers into his class.





	Lemony and Mint

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this for Valentine’s Day but I didn’t have time to finish it so I just made it more a general cute fluffy thing. If you follow me on Twitter, I’ve been building up on a Tween AU where Nadia is this rich girl who transfers to Keith’s class, and both Keith and James develop a very hard crush on her. It’s an incredibly cute dynamic that I adore very much. Hope you enjoy the adorableness too!!

Keith never knew what a crush was until today.

Okay, like, he knew, he was thirteen and not that stupid. Puberty was a helluva drastic change that didn’t really go by unnoticed, after all. But he never really actually _felt_ what having a crush was like for himself. The idea of thinking about someone every hour of the day and being smitten and yet unable to express your feelings except through sappy playlists did not interest him in the slightest.

It was really the stupidest thing. A stupid thing that his stupid classmates were suddenly all serious business about as they made passes at each other like hormonal idiots. Gone were the days of being couples for only a day or two when the novelty wore off. Now couples were like in relationships for _real_ that could last weeks, even months, and they went on like actual dates _without_ their parents. First kisses. First other things.

His classmates never really noticed him, though. And that was just fine by Keith. Like he wanted any part of their peer-pressured driven idiocy.

Except that time when Shirogane came to their school and set up a simulator for them to test their skills at piloting, see who would be a good fit for the Galaxy Garrison. Keith had bested them all. Then stole Shirogane’s car. And his classmates thought he was _so_ _cool_ for that. Like easily impressed toddlers. And for a small, short while, Keith actually didn’t mind all the attention. Certainly not when it came at _Griffin’s_ expense.

But then that died down as new things came along for those stupid kids to get all excited about. Teenagers have the collective memory of goldfish, purging all previous information the moment it became irrelevant to make room for something new and exciting. And Keith was back to sitting quietly at his desk, staring out the window, not caring about anything and no one bothering him.

Then _she_ transferred to their class.

Keith should have ignored her like he ignored everyone else around him.

But she was... cute. Like really, really **cute**. And she even introduced herself when she sat down in the desk next to his, clearly someone who was not to be ignored easily. “Hi, I’m Nadia Rizavi. Looks like we’re deskmates now.” And she had held out her hand for him to shake. Which he had done because leaving her hanging felt a little too mean. The entire class had collectively gasped when their palms clasped like they had just witnessed a very taboo moment, clutching metaphorical pearls straight from their grandmothers. Neanderthals.

Nadia Rizavi was a literal princess. She came from money, the uniform she wore on her first day of school told them all as much. It was the uniform that belonged to a prestigious all-girls private school out on the East Coast, according to all the girls who salvaged as much information on her as they could only to discover that they could not compete. Small town desert girls would never be on the same level as a girl from a huge city that never slept.

What she was doing in a dirty desert town was beyond all of them. The Rizavi family was loaded, her parents _world_ - _renowned_ surgeons. They hosted charities, humanitarian drives, and they had close family members in Congress, so the rumors went. Her house was probably as big their whole school. And on top of that, she was just so sweet. Friendly. Outgoing. Her black hair always pulled up in playful pigtails. Everyone liked her. Everyone was enchanted by her.

Including Keith.

Griffin was definitely interested in her. That asshole pranced around her like a peacock flaring his tail for her attention. At least the other boys teased him that she was completely out of his league despite his own popularity. Knock that arrogant guy down a peg or three. It was so stupidly obvious how hard he was trying. Watching him constantly try to sit at lunch with her or share his notes made Keith want to scream with second-hand embarrassment.

Keith did the opposite. He avoided Nadia, like he avoided everyone else. Because he wasn’t a try-hard like Griffin, desperate for everyone to like him.

But also so that he didn’t have to deal with these confusing, very new feelings.

Because whenever Nadia came around, he really enjoyed her company.

He usually ate lunch by the bleachers, and that’s where she found him that day. She didn’t sit at the popular kids table, probably finally sick of Griffin’s shit. She tucked her plaid skirt beneath her legs and settled her tray next to her like she and Keith ate with each other every day. 

Did rich people seriously just do what they wanted with no regard for anything else?

“You know, back at my old school, girls would make out under the bleachers,” she remarked, gossipy as if they were the best of friends already. “Said they were experimenting. Getting ready for boys. But I think they just liked each other.”

“Huh,” was Keith’s only reply. He had to reply. Nadia made it impossible to ignore her.

“Do public school kids make out under the bleachers?”

“I guess.”

“You ever see them?”

He nearly choked on his fork. “N-no. I mean, it’s not like I’m trying to look.” He didn’t want to admit that his presence probably ruined the romantic mood, anyway. “Why are you even asking something like that?”

She flipped a wavy pigtail over her shoulder. “I just thought public school was supposed to be so much less, erm, _rigid_ than private school. There were so many rules there, we had to sneak around a lot. But public school sounds wild to me. You all get to wear what you want, for starters.”

“Yeah, so rich kids can brag about how their parents can afford expensive clothes,” Keith replied and regretted it immediately. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, I completely get it,” she said. “Just because we — my old school, I mean, had uniforms, there were other ways to brag to everyone how much money your parents had. Like purses. Oh my God, I swear if WWIV ever starts, purses would be the cause. So many bitches getting their panties in bunch because they didn’t have the latest Coach, which are ugly by the way, and they are stupid for spending so much money on them.”

“I see.” Stupid classmates. Keith could relate. 

Maybe short replies would bore her, and she would go away. Only Keith didn’t want her to go away.

God what was _wrong_ with him???

“So what’s up with that Jamie kid?”

“Griffin? He’s a dumbass.”

“I gathered.”

Keith stared at her, lowering his fork. “Is he bothering you? I’ll be more than happy to punch his stupid face for you.”

Nadia flicked her other pigtail. The urge to give them a playful little tug was strong, but Keith kept his hands to himself because he wasn’t five.

“No thanks. I’m good with my own ability to punch stupid faces.” A grin. “And he’s not bothering me. He just won’t leave me alone.”

“That’s typically the definition of bothering.”

“Only if I mind it.”

He blinked. “You don’t mind it?” Just what was going on in this girl’s head, anyway?

She laughed. A pixie’s laugh. High-pitched and mischievous. “Of course, I don’t. I didn’t exactly get a lot of attention back at my old school. Everyone knew my family, and they were terrified of me. So they mostly ignored me.”

Wow. She spoke about being ignored as casually as discussing any other natural, boring phenomenon in the world. She picked at some cafeteria macaroni on her tray, swinging her long thin legs covered by black stockings back and forth. She didn’t wear her school uniform today, but her clothes still screamed preppy rich schoolgirl. Her old school probably served filet mignon and calamari or whatever rich people eat for lunch and not processed generic mac-n-cheese.

A curled tendril of loose black hair fell over her brown cheek, and Keith had to look away or else he was going to reach over and gently tuck it back behind her ear.

It was suddenly much too hot on this February afternoon to wear his hoodie. His face wouldn’t stop burning, heart racing a mile a minute. He felt sick. He wanted to punch something.

“I stole a car,” he blurted in order to swallow back the nausea climbing up his throat.

Nadia’s head snapped up, her golden eyes wide behind her purple framed glasses. “What?”

“When the Galaxy Garrison sent one of their pilots to recruit us last month,” Keith explained. She was staring at him, and his stomach clawed with nerves, but focusing on his story helped him relax a bit more. Where had this strange urge to impress this girl even come from? “He brought one of those flying simulators to test us, and I did better than everyone else. They couldn’t make it past level three. I cleared level five.”

Yup, there went his chest, puffing out a bit with pride.

Was she impressed? Did she look impressed? No, she actually looked more confused. He deflated a little.

“What does this have to do with stealing a car?”

That he needed to get out of there in a hurry because his own principal was tearing him down in front of the coolest guy he had ever seen? That he couldn’t take yet another moment where he excelled but Griffin got all the praise instead?

“It was Shirogane’s car.”

Nadia’s jaw dropped. “The pilot’s?? Whaaaaat???” Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “Why?”

Keith shrugged with a nonchalantness he hoped made him look as cool as he thought. “Because I could.”

She gasped, hand over her mouth. “So you’re the _bad boy?”_

He was suddenly very aware of her leaning closer to him, her knees tilted toward his own, the interest apparent from head to toe. Keith swallowed hard. Bad boy was a heavy phrase that carried with it the sound of motorcycle engines and the smell of black leather and cigarettes, none of these things Keith possessed. “Y-yeah. I guess.” Might as well let her have this one. He was a walking disciplinary issue, after all.

Nadia’s eyes gleamed. Keith scooted back a bit. Too close. She was too close. He could smell her lemony body mist and minty shampoo. Weird how those scents stood out to him so distinctly. He’d always had a sharp sense of smell, but her fragrance seemed particularly potent. It was doing funny things to his head.

“Is that why you sit alone?” she asked.

He nodded and looked away. “The rest of the class doesn’t like me very much.”

“Aw. They suck, then. I like you.”

His heart stopped. Fire flared across his cheeks.

“I think you’re actually really nice for a bad boy,” Nadia added with a nod. “And interesting.”

He gawked at her. What was going on? She was the second person in the span of a month who had expressed genuine interest in him. First Shirogane, and now this transfer student?

Her smile faded when she mistook his shock for something negative. “I... D-did I say something wrong?”

When he processed her words, Keith shook his head vigorously. “No. No, I...” He trailed off, embarrassed, staring at his knees. Trying not to stare at _her_ knees. “I haven’t had a friend in a long time.” Shirogane didn’t exactly count as a friend, the guy was like a few years shy of ancient. And he had like a boyfriend or something.

“Me either,” Nadia admitted. “So I guess this means we gotta be friends now.”

“We’re friends?”

“Yeah, totally. We’ll each lunch together every day, okay? Right here on the bleachers. Unless it rains. Then we’ll just sit under the bleachers. And we don’t have to make out, either.”

She gave him a look that was downright evil. “Unless you _want_ to make out. Then I might not mind.”

He choked on his own spit, sputtering, “I-I-I-I th-think I’m good, thanks.”

She giggled, with a playful, “Of course I’m kidding, you goof. About the making out, I mean. But we’re definitely friends now.” 

He could listen to her laugh all day. The fact that he actually had a chance to thrilled him like dropping at terminal velocity. 

”Okay, so we gotta make it official!” 

“Official?”

”Uh-huh.” She fished her phone from her skirt pocket and held it up so that he could see them both in her selfie camera. “Smile nice and big! Cheese!” 

He smiled a little. They actually looked kinda good together. 

“Gimme your number so I can send it to you,” she said, fingers tapping over the keyboard screen. “I’m gonna post this on my profile so that the whole world knows we’re friends now.” 

His fingers fumbled around his pants and hoodie, struggling to remember the pocket his phone rested in. He wondered if he should show her his blog he was working on. He didn’t have a lot of followers, but there were a few. 

“Nadia! Hey, Nadia!”

Of course, _Griffin_ had to come around the corner and utterly ruin the moment. Both Keith and Nadia rolled their eyes at each other before giggling at their own joke. Griffin stopped at the bottom step, tilting his head like he couldn’t understand why they were grinning down at him. “We’re playing a game of kickball,” he said, pointedly ignoring Keith and jerking his thumb toward the soccer field. “We could use one more player. Come play with us.”

Nadia glanced at Keith and then back at Griffin. “Just _one_ player?”

Griffin shifted from foot to foot, face contorted in clear discomfort as he finally acknowledged Keith’s presence. “I suppose Keith _can_ join in if someone quits,” he said. “There’s always room for a bench warmer.”

Keith bit his bottom lip to keep from tackling Griffin to the ground. He probably would have considering there was no adults around to stop him, but Nadia might not be friends with him anymore. No one wants someone violent for a friend, even if jerks like James Griffin deserved a few solid punches.

“No way,” Nadia said with a dark finality that shook both boys. “I’m wearing a skirt, anyway. And my mama says that boys aren’t allowed to peek up it until I’m fifteen.”

“Sorry?”

Keith snorted, barely able to contain his laughter. Nadia Rizavi was something else, and the scandalized look on Griffin’s face was something to cherish.

Suddenly Keith was on his feet when Nadia stood up with her arm hooked in his. Wow. She was taller than him. Almost taller than Griffin. Years later, he would learn that she won’t have grown much taller since then. “My new best friend _Keith_ and I are gonna check out the comics in the library now. That sounds way more fun, doesn’t it, _new best friend?”_

Keith flushed with surprise, and he slowly nodded. With a cock of her head, Nadia led Keith down the bleachers, shouldering past Griffin. She only paused long enough to say with a candy-coated smile, “Put our trays up for us, will ya? Thanks, Jamie. The girls were right, you really are the sweetest.”

They were halfway to the school building when Keith finally recovered, feeling the stares of all their classmates on the two of them entering the school together, arm in arm. “You... oh my God. You really did that.”

“I had to deal with girls like that my whole life,” Nadia replied in a tone that made her sound older and more mature than your average thirteen-year-old. “Cute public school boys ain’t shit so long as Lilac Stevenson and her posse exist.”

So even rich people can have it rough, apparently.

Nadia sighed. “I actually love sports. But the look on Griffin’s face was worth it. Besides, I’m not about to abandon my new best friend for the likes of him, anyway.” 

Keith blushed. Their arms were still linked. 

They went into the library, sneaking past the college assistant at the front desk who seemed more into his phone than being any kind of help, into the aisle of graphic novels. Nadia groaned as she pulled a trade off the shelf. “Algebra is sooo boring already, and that Coach Thomas manages to make it worse. Let’s say you and me skip next period and read about the adventures of Tabbyman instead,” she suggested with a playful grin, showing him the latest volume. This girl really did do whatever the hell she wanted, didn’t she?

Keith nodded because he didn’t mind in the least. “I love that superhero.”

“I know right?” she squealed. “He’s the best! So brave and tough and yet so compassionate and relatable.”

When the bell rang signaling the end of lunch, the two of them remained seated side-by-side right there in the aisle, heads close as they started on this new adventure together. Keith’s heart danced around in his stomach, but luckily Tabbyman was enough of a distraction from this sudden, surprising, exciting temptation to kiss her. Nadia giggled a bit at the brush of their fingers when they accidentally tried turning the page at the same time. The small noises she made in her throat in reaction to the story unfolding before them Keith memorized sound for sound. 

Keith never understood a crush.

But as his brain started singing with lyrics that perfectly matched her hair and eyes, he could get behind the idea. Even if it was incredibly stupid. 

 


End file.
